Okay, I guess I can understand why all the digital nomads go apeshit over Chiang Mai

Okay, I guess I can understand why all the digital nomads go apeshit over Chiang Mai

It only takes about 5 minutes of being tapped into digital nomad culture before you hear someone talk about Chiang Mai, Thailand. And after hearing a good amount of talk about it, I sorta thought to myself, “come on, how good can it really be?”

Pretty fuckin’ good, actually.

Here’s the reason why: after you’ve been traveling for a while and trying to work along the way, most places fall slightly short of ideal, sometimes in ways that seem insignificant but actually get annoying fast. In fact, I’ve sorta gotten used to myself getting itchy feet a few days after arriving somewhere new. So far, the places I’ve actually managed to stay a week or more without getting restless and antsy are Padova, a city a bit west of Venice in Italy, and Chiang Mai. It’s almost unnerving how much I’m not hating it here, to be honest. I’m just so used to having the “Okay, I need to GTFOutta here and go somewhere else” feeling that I feel thrown when I don’t have it!

As I’ve been traveling, I’ve been silently assembling a list of requirements that a place I’m visiting should have for me to enjoy it. I haven’t posted the list yet, because it’s still being refined. But in short, Chiang Mai meets all of my traveling needs, and most of my traveling wants.

What I Like

It’s really cheap

Apartments are around $300/mo

Even my airbnb is like $23/night

A standard Thai meal at a restaurant will be $2-$5

A standard American meal at a restaurannt will be $4-$10

Thai massages are like $6/hr

Locals are friendly and often speak English

There are oodles of digital nomads and Westerners here

Most apartments and airbnbs have desks

The wifi is abundant, generally reliable, and fast

Lotsa cafes & coworking spaces

Lots of delicious food, both in terms of local Thai food and also American food

There are plenty of yoga studios

Getting around is easy, as long as you don’t mind putting your life on the line and renting a motorbike

Fantastic weather in the winter, with clear blue skies being the norm

Plenty of nearby outdoor activities due to its proximity to the mountains

It’s not really all that humid — those who know me know how much I disdain being sticky

Visas for extended travel seem to be pretty cheap and easy to get

Good central location in Asia to fly around and explore nearby countries (A short-notice flight from here to Bali was $268)

Drawbacks

It is said to be acutely unpleasant to be here during the burning season, which is roughly mid-Feb to mid-April

There are no beaches since it’s in the mountains

Being 12 hrs ahead of EST can make call coordination with clients challenging

Getting here

In my opinion, the cheapest route to get here is the best option, even though there are going to be some annoying layovers. The way I look at it is that if you’re coming from the US, you’re going to be a bit fucked by the jet lag anyway, so a few hours wasted in layovers really is not that big of a deal. That being said, I can’t speak highly enough about Norwegian airlines. I seriously love them for long-distance flights.

Super cheap

Every seat has a power outlet

The jets are big and badass-looking

If you’re booking at least a month in advance, you can get a flight from JFK to Bangkok with Norwegian for $500. Isn’t that nuts!? I am looking at prices right now, and I see a flight in February for $424. Things to keep in mind though:

Norwegian operates only out of a few airports in the USA, and Colorado is not one of them. What I’ve done in the past is fly from CO to San Juan, Puerto Rico and hang out there for a few days. However, I’ve decided I don’t really like SJ that much, so for this next flight I’m doing with them, I’ll be connecting through Las Vegas, as it’s only about an hr flight from CO

Nearly every long-distance flight with them is going to connect through Norway, like how Icelandair always connects through Reykjavik. So what this means for you is that if you are taking this route I’m taking soon, you’ll have to deal with:

Colorado -> Las Vegas, Flight time 1.5 hrs, Layover ~2 hrs

Vegas -> Oslo, Flight time 8 hrs, Layover 2-5 hrs

Oslo -> Bangkok, Flight time 10 hrs, Layover ~2 hrs

Bangkok -> Chiang Mai, Flight time 1.5 hrs

Their flights don’t include food unless you want to pay extra. However, their meals are legitimately good if you do purchase them. (I usually just get sammys and snacks at the airport to bring on with me)

Usually I’m of the mind that if I value my time at hundreds of dollars per hour, it’s silly to deal with layovers just to save a couple hundred bucks. But like I said, when I travel through so many time zones, I get really messed up from the jet lag anyway, so it’s all gonna be terrible no matter what, and I might as well save some money. The trip above will cost ~$700 one way, due to the costs of the other flight tickets beyond the Norwegian one, whereas you’d be hard-pressed to find that with another airline for under $1k. And to me, having the power outlet available on the flight is a big deal, because then I can play computer games and bleed away the whole flight. (Hey, 20 hrs on a plane is just 30 games of DotA or 40 games of Starcraft!!!)

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